1897 treaty between the United Kingdom and Ethiopia
The Anglo-Ethiopian Treaty of 1897 (sometimes called the Rodd Treaty) was an agreement signed between the British and Ethiopian Empire, negotiated between diplomat Sir Rennell Rodd and Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia. The treaty primarily focused on border issues between the two empires in Somali inhabited regions that they had expanded into over the previous decade. Signed in May 1897, the agreement saw the British cede large tracts of Somali territory to Ethiopia, without the consent or knowledge of Somalis that were legally under their protection.
Arrival of the Rennell Rodd mission at Addis Ababa
Ethiopia's legal claim to much of the Ogaden going into the 20th century rested on the treaty, which was rejected by the Somali Republic when it gained independence in 1960.
During the 1880s, the armies of Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia began pushing into the Somali inhabited Ogaden region. This coincided with British, Italian and French colonial advances into the Somali inhabited lands of the Horn of Africa. The large scale importation of European arms to Menelik completely upset the balance of power between the Somalis and the Ethiopian Empire, as the colonial powers blocked Somalis from receiving firearms under the Brussels Act of 1890,[1] which Ethiopia was a signatory to.[2] In response to the threat of Menelik's expansions, many clans in what became the protectorate of British Somaliland accepted English protection. The agreements dictated the protection of Somali rights and the maintenance of independence.[3] In exchange for commercial privileges for British merchants in Ethiopia and the neutrality of Menelik II in the Mahdist War, the British signed a major agreement ceding large parts of Somali lands to Ethiopia, despite being a legal breach of the legal obligation made by the protectorate.[4]
The treaty consisted of several articles, including:
Article I: allowed subjects from Ethiopia and British Somaliland to have full liberties in regards to commerce with each other.
Article II: defined the geographical boundaries between Ethiopia and British Somaliland.
Article III: specified keeping open the caravan route between Harar and the colonial port of Zeila.
Article IV: Ethiopia granted Great Britain favoured rights in respect to import duties and taxes.
Article V: allowed Ethiopian import of military equipment through British Somaliland.
Article VI: dealt with problems concerning Sudanese Mahdists.
This treaty was one of several concerning the borders of Ethiopia which were negotiated and signed in the ten years that followed the Ethiopian victory at the Battle of Adwa.[5]
The boundary defined in this treaty was not demarcated until 1932, in response to RasTafari Makonnen's desire, which he expressed during his visit to Europe in 1924, to demarcate all of the boundaries of Ethiopia. E.H.M. Clifford explains that "negotiations to this end proceeded slowly but on the whole surely, and at the end of 1930 reached the stage of definite preparations; but the Boundary Commission did not actually meet until 8 January 1932, at Berbera."[6] Clifford afterwards participated in the subsequent demarcation, which extended from the Italian-British boundary demarcated in 1929–1930 at 9°N44°E / 9°N 44°E / 9; 44, west to the trijunction point where the boundaries of French Somaliland met Ethiopia and British Somaliland. Clifford describes the terrain and work of demarcation, with a map, in a paper he presented to the Geographical Society in 1935, although he omitted any mention of the most significant event of this project—the Italo-Ethiopian Walwal Incident.[7]
Her Majesty Victoria, by the grace of God, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India, and His Majesty Menelek II, by the grace of God, King of Kings of Ethiopia, being desirous of strengthening and rendering more effective and profitable the ancient friendship which has existed between their respective kingdoms; Her Majesty Queen Victoria having appointed as her Special Envoy and Representative to His Majesty the Emperor Menelek II, James Rennell Rodd, Esq., Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George, whose full powers have been found in due and proper form, and His Majesty the Emperor Menelek, negotiating in his own name as King of Kings of Ethiopia, they have agreed upon and do conclude the following Articles, which shall be binding on themselves, their heirs and successors:
Article I. The subjects of or persons protected by each of the Contracting Parties shall have full liberty to come and go and engage in commerce in the territories of the other, enjoying the protection of the Government within whose jurisdiction they are; but it is forbidden for armed bands from either side to cross the frontier of the other on any pretext whatever without previous authorization from the competent authorities.
Article II. The frontiers of the British Protectorate on the Somali Coast recognized by the Emperor Menelek shall be determined subsequently by exchange of notes between James Rennell Rodd, Esq., as Representative of Her Majesty the Queen, and Ras Maconen, as Representative of His Majesty the Emperor Menelek, at Harrar. These notes shall be annexed to the present Treaty, of which they will form an integral part, so soon as they have received the approval of the High Contracting Parties, pending which the status quo shall be maintained.
Article III. The caravan route between Zeyla and Harrar by way of Gildessa shall remain open throughout its whole extent to the commerce of both nations.
Article IV. His Majesty the Emperor of Ethiopia, on the one hand, accords to Great Britain and her Colonies in respect of import duties and local taxation, every advantage which he may accord to the subjects of other nations.
On the other hand, all material destined exclusively for the service of the Ethiopian State shall, on application from His Majesty the Emperor, be allowed to pass through the port of Zeyla into Ethiopia free of duty.
Article V. The transit of fire-arms and ammunition destined for His Majesty the Emperor of Ethiopia through the territories depending on the Government of Her Britannic Majesty is authorized, subject to the conditions prescribed by the General Act of the Brussels Conference, signed the 2nd July, 1890.
Article VI. His Majesty the Emperor Menelek II, King of Kings of Ethiopia, engages himself towards the Government of Her Britannic Majesty to do all in his power to prevent the passage through his dominions of arms and ammunition to the Mahdists, whom he declares to be the enemies of his Empire. The present Treaty shall come into force as soon as its ratification by Her Britannic Majesty shall have been notified to the Emperor of Ethiopia, but it is understood that the prescriptions of Article VI shall be put into force from the date of its signature.
In faith of which His Majesty Menelek II, King of Kings of Ethiopia, in his own name, and James Rennell Rodd, Esq., on behalf of Her Majesty Victoria, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India, have signed the present Treaty, in duplicate, written in the English and Amharic languages identically, both texts being considered as official, and have thereto affixed their seals.
Done at Adis Abbaba, the 14th day of May, 1897.
(Signed) James Rennell Rodd.
(Seal of His Majesty the Emperor Menelek II.)
Legality
Ethiopia's claim on the Ogaden rested on the Anglo-Ethiopian Treaty of 1897. International law professor W. Michael Reisman observes:[4]
As a matter of law and fact, the 1897 treaty was void because it presumed an authority which the Somalis had never accorded to Great Britain. The Somalis gave no authority to the British to transfer Somali territory to another state. Ironically the British had committed themselves to protect Somali territory and this was the manifest reason for the Protectorate. In attempting to transfer the land to Ethiopia, the British were acting without competence, exceeding their jurisdiction and concluding an agreement without the participation of the central party.
Reisman further notes that even had the treaty originally been valid, it would have been invalidated by Ethiopia's failure to commit to key legal obligations.[4]
Impact
Despite the British transfer of large expanses of land belonging to the Somalis, the existence of the treaty was concealed from them and none had participated in the treaty. Largely due to the minimal presence and activity of Ethiopian forces in the region, Somalis remained largely unaware of the change in status. The Somali Republic denounced the treaty from the moment it was established in July 1960.[9]
↑ An overview of these treaties is provided by Harold Marcus, The Life and Times of Menelik II: Ethiopia 1844-1913 (Lawrenceville: Red Sea Press, 1995), pp. 179-190
The First Italo-Ethiopian War, also referred to as the First Italo-Abyssinian War, or simply in Italy as the Abyssinian War, was a war fought between Italy and Ethiopia from 1895 to 1896. It originated from the disputed Treaty of Wuchale, which the Italians claimed turned Ethiopia into an Italian protectorate. Full-scale war broke out in 1895, with Italian troops from Italian Eritrea achieving initial successes against Tigrayan warlords at Coatit, Senafe and Debra Ailà, until they were reinforced by a large Ethiopian army led by Emperor Menelik II. The Italian defeat came about after the Battle of Adwa, where the Ethiopian army dealt the heavily outnumbered Italian soldiers and Eritrean askaris a decisive blow and forced their retreat back into Eritrea. The war concluded with the Treaty of Addis Ababa. Because this was one of the first decisive victories by African forces over a European colonial power, this war became a preeminent symbol of pan-Africanism and secured Ethiopia's sovereignty until the Second Italo-Ethiopian War of 1935–37.
British Somaliland, officially the Somaliland Protectorate, was a protectorate of the United Kingdom in modern Somaliland. During its existence, the territory was bordered by Italian Somalia, French Somali Coast and Abyssinia. From 1940 to 1941, it was occupied by the Italians and was part of Italian East Africa.
Ogaden is one of the historical names used for the modern Somali Region which forms the eastern portion of Ethiopia and borders Somalia. It also includes another region in the north known as Haud.
Greater Somalia sometimes also called Greater Somaliland is the geographic location comprising the regions in the Horn of Africa in which ethnic Somalis live and have historically inhabited.
The Ogaden War, also known as the Ethio-Somali War, was a military conflict fought between Somalia and Ethiopia from July 1977 to March 1978 over the sovereignty of Ogaden. Somalia's invasion of the region, precursor to the wider war, met with the Soviet Union's disapproval, leading the superpower to end its support for Somalia to fully support Ethiopia instead.
The Treaty of Wuchale was a treaty signed between the Ethiopian Empire and the Kingdom of Italy. The signing parties were King Menelik II of Shewa, acting as Emperor of Ethiopia, and Count Pietro Antonelli representing Italy, on 2 May 1889, established the treaty after the Italian occupation of Eritrea. It was signed in the small Ethiopian town of Wuchale, from which the treaty got its name. The purpose of the treaty was to promote friendship and trade among the two countries. It was a treaty to maintain a positive long-lasting relationship between the two empires. The treaty has twenty articles written in two languages, Amharic and Italian; however, there were marked differences in the Italian and the Amharic versions of the treaty, which created miscommunications between the two countries. Specifically, Article 17 of the treaty was translated and interpreted differently by Ethiopia and Italy. Italy claimed the article imposed a protectorate over Ethiopia, while Ethiopia claimed the article allowed international diplomacy to be conducted through Italy by choice. When Menelik II denounced the treaty in 1893, Italy attempted to forcefully impose the protectorate over Ethiopia in the First Italo-Ethiopian War, which ended with Italy's defeat at the Battle of Adwa and the resulting Treaty of Addis Ababa.
The Anglo-Ethiopian Agreement was a joint effort between Ethiopia and the United Kingdom at reestablishing Ethiopian independent statehood following the ousting of Italian troops by combined British and Ethiopian forces in 1941 during the Second World War.
The Haud, formerly known as the Hawd Reserve Area is a plateau situated in the Horn of Africa consisting of thorn-bush and grasslands. The region includes the southern part of Somaliland as well as the northern and eastern parts of the Somali Region of Ethiopia. Haud is a historic region as well as an important grazing area and has multiple times been referenced in countless notorious poems. The region is also notorious for its red soil, caused by the soil's iron richness. The Haud covers an estimated area of about 119,000 square km, more than nine-tenths the size of England, or roughly the size of North Korea.
Conflicts in the Horn of Africa have been occurring since the 17th century BCE. The Horn of Africa includes the nations of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia.
The Ethiopian–Somali conflict is a territorial and political dispute between Ethiopia, Somalia, and insurgents in the area.
The Somaliland Campaign, also called the Anglo-Somali War or the Dervish War, was a series of military expeditions that took place between 1900 and 1920 in modern-day Somalia. The British were assisted in their offensives by the Ethiopian Empire and the Kingdom of Italy.
Ethiopia–Somalia relations are bilateral relations between Ethiopia and Somalia. These relations are characterized by the land border shared by the two countries and a number of military conflicts in past years.
Somalia–United Kingdom relations are bilateral relations between Somalia and the United Kingdom.
Ciid or 'Iid is an archaic native geographic name for the land between the region of Mudug and the Nugaal Valley, roughly congruous with the northern Bookh district in Ethiopia. As such, Ciid constitutes the tripoint of the two former colonial powers Britain and Italy, as well as neighboring Ethiopia, thus situating Mudug immediately southeast of Ciid, the Nugaal Valley immediately north of Ciid, and Haud to the west of Ciid. One historian referred to it as the syrup-colored land and it is today embodied by Ciid towns such as Futoxum, Magacley, Qoriley, Biriqodey, Beerdhiga and Gumburka Cagaare.
The Ethiopia–Sudan border is a disputed border between the 0929 4715 52 1000000
Menelik's conquests, also known as the Agar Maqnat, were a series of expansionist wars and conquests carried out by Emperor Menelik II of Shewa to expand the Ethiopian Empire.
Beginning with the Kingdom of Aksum, Ethiopia's territory evolved significantly through conquest of the lands surrounding it. Strong Aksumite trading partnerships with other world powers gave prominence to its territorial expansion. In 330, Aksum besieged the Nubian city of Meroë, marking the beginning of its great expansion. It finally declined after the rise of Islamic dominion in South Arabia, and it ultimately collapsed in the 10th century.
Ethiopia–United Kingdom relations are the bilateral relations between Ethiopia and the United Kingdom. Currently, Ethiopia has an embassy in London and United Kingdom has an embassy in Addis Ababa. Historically, their relations traced over centuries covered a range of areas including, but not limited to, trade, culture, education and development cooperation. The UK is the first country to open its embassy in Addis Ababa. Ethiopia is the first African country to open an embassy in London.
Somalis in Ethiopia refers to the ethnic Somalis from Ethiopia, particularly the Ogaden, officially known as the Somali Region. Their language is primarily Somali and are predominantly Muslim. According to a 2017 census from the Central Statistical Authority, the Somalis were the third largest ethnic group in Ethiopia with roughly 11,000,000 people accounting for 8.2% of the country’s population, after Oromo (34.4%) and Amhara (27%). The Somali population in Ethiopia make up around 30% of the total Somali population worldwide.
The Ethiopia–Somalia border stretches 1,500 kilometers. In the 19th century, both Britain and Italy contributed to shaping the modern border, on behalf of their colonies of British and Italian Somaliland. The Somali people were thus under British, French, Italian and Ethiopian rule. During World War II, Britain gained control of the Ogaden and Haud territories and returned them to Ethiopia in 1954, but not delimited beyond the provisional line. Since 1960 independence, the border suffered serious skirmish involving both countries soldiers. From 1977 to 1978, Ethiopia and Somalia fought Ogaden War led by Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam and General Siad Barre respectively. The EPRDF government demarcated the border of Ogaden into Somali Region. Somalia is located at the base of Ethiopia's protrude southeast region; from South, it is bounded by Wabi Shebelle and Genale Valley.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
